


Start of a covenant

by AgBH1



Category: Horrible Histories
Genre: Drabble, Execution, Gorgeous Georgians, Historical References, Stuarts, Vampire Turning, Vampires, a little morbid, a very short drabble, but there are vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:34:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgBH1/pseuds/AgBH1
Summary: Claude Duval has plans for Dick Turpin
Relationships: James Smith/Dick Turpin
Kudos: 2





	Start of a covenant

Claude Duval was but one among a throng of people happy to be at Dick Turpin’s execution. There were the aristocrats pleased to be watching swing a man who had preyed upon their peers. There were the paid mourners who were pleased with the income they had received for making a pretence of sadness. There were the usual public who were pleased just to be enjoying some free entertainment.

And then there was Claud Duval, pleased because in the death of Dick Turpin, he was gaining an eternal companion.

Duval might have used somewhat underhanded methods to ensure this outcome, but Dick would forget all about that in a few decades. Revealing John Palmer’s true identity to the authorities had been a stroke of fate, really - how was Duval to know that someone he happened to teach writing to would become a notorious highwayman? Well, perhaps his using stories about his own days in that same profession had influenced the young, susceptible Dick Turpin just a bit...

But then running into him again years later while working as a postman...ok, so admittedly, Duval had orchestrated that too.

No wonder Dick had been less than pleased to see him when Duval snuck into Dick’s jail cell the evening before his execution. Of course, as far as Dick knew at the time, Duval was just the postie who’d sealed his fate. Even after revealing his true identity, it had taken some convincing to get Dick to actually listen to what he had to say, and yet more to convince the trapped criminal that it was the truth.

Dick had never heard of a vampire. That was hardly surprising, Duval supposed. Most people in England hadn’t, and those aware of the potential existence of such creatures tended to be limited to highly superstitious farmers, which Dick was not, or literature lovers, which Dick absolutely was not.

Dick had only agreed to offer to open his veins for Duval, and in return to drink some of Duval’s blood, after Duval had compelled him to do so. Which, Duval had to admit, wasn’t entirely a sign that Dick was either convinced in Duval’s story, or willing to be turned himself. However, Duval knew his former pupil well enough to know that he would thrive as a vampire. Indeed, he’d handle ‘life’ as a vampire far better than he had as a normal human. He’d enjoy it, in the end.

And, more to the point, Duval would have a companion. This was to be the first human he turned - the start of his own covenant. His own family.

And so, he openly grinned as the trapdoor gave way beneath Dick’s feet.


End file.
